Converting Iron Heroes to 2e

Every couple of months I get it into my head that I want to play Dark Sun. I look over all the books and systems, and decide that I absolutely can't stand playing it in 2nd edition anymore because of the dependence of the system on characters acquiring magic items.
  So I always end up reaching for my Iron Heroes books, which, tbh, have always looked good on paper, but then I was never really reading anything very closely, and somehow completely missed all the proto-4e stuff in the skill section.
  I finally managed to somehow get through all the class conversions(Even have a workable Complete Psionics Handbook Conversion of the Psionicist to Iron Heroes which is something I've not managed to do, and have been trying to figure out since 2007 when I actually got the idea the first time), but ended up getting stuck in the skills section.
  I ended up talking to a friend about how much I wish there was a way to just drop the whole bloody skill system in d20(which is a big reason as to why I left playing d20 in the first place), when  my friend says, "Why not convert Dark Sun to 2e" which made me laugh for obvious reasons, but then it got me thinking . . . . why not convert the stuff I like in Iron Heroes to 2nd edition?
   Get ready folks . . . AD&D 2nd edition's Iron Heroes is coming! Over the next few days, I'll start posting classes and stuff as I get them sorted out.

Cantrip effect ideas

 I recently sent the party a list of things that the Cantrip spell could do off the top of my head. Thus, it's a continuation of this article. I'm reprinting the list here so A) it doesn't get lost, and B) because I'm trying to get back into updating this blog regularly.

Possible Cantrip Effects:

• +/-1 to a single check for the following types of rolls: Ability, Open Door, Encounter Reaction, Saving Throw, Initiative, or Secret/Hidden Object/Door.
• +/- 5% to a single check for the following types of rolls: Thieving Skills, Hear Noise, Climbing, Bend Bars/Lift Gates, System Shock, Resurrection Survival, or Avoiding Getting Lost.
• +/- 1 to the damage of another caster's spell.
• +/- 5 Feet to the range or Area of Effect of another caster's spell or a single ranged attack.
• +1 bonus to a Slashing or Piercing weapon's damage(by sharpening in) on their next attack attempt(effect fades whether the attack hits or misses).
• Causes a Slashing or Piercing weapon to do -1 damage until it is sharpened w/ magic or whetstone(Can be used cumulatively to a max of -3, but no weapon may do less than 1 point of damage)
• -1 AC bonus vs. Ranged Attacks from a range of 30' or greater.
• +1 AC penalty vs. Ranged Attacks from a range of 30' or less.
• +/-1  to AC vs. a single Melee attack(may not make an AC better than 7 or worse than 10).
• Heal 1 hp of damage within 1 round of sustaining the injury or Stabilize one character below 0 hp(In my campaign this is the same as applying a bandage, and thus I feel this doesn't really step on the cleric's toes).
• Increase/decrease a character's movement rate by 3. Can't make a character move slower than 0.
• Increase/decrease  the movement rate of an animal of Tiny size by half.
• Cook Food/Boil Water/Chill Drink/Season Food for 1 meal.
• Light a Fire.
• Preserve 1 pound of inanimate matter per level of caster to a maximum of 10 pounds(herbs, food, spell components, etc).
• Age 1 pound of inanimate matter per level of caster to a maximum of 10 pounds by 1 week.
• Instantly clean/dirty or dry/dampen 1 character/object.(may provide a bonus/penalty on saves!)
• Repel normal, non-magical insects.
• Summon a single stinging/biting insect or other small creature. The creature may cause disease, be poisonous, or interrupt spellcasting w/ an attack(DM determines)
• Automatically know the # of a certain object in a pile.
• Will Dye or color one object or creature any color you'd like(lasts until the creature next takes a bath)
• Style hair, and even cause it to grow. This is how all those dungeon-punk wizards manage to keep a perfect mohawk in a world without Hairspray or Glue.(lasts until the creature next takes a bath)
• Create a seemingly magical aura around yourself or another character/object.
• Cause an NPC to make a morale check.
• Creates a single object of 1 pound per level of caster to a maximum of 10 pounds. The object is fragile and is obvious magical nature.
• Manipulate 1 object of 1 pound per level of caster to a maximum of 10 pounds within 10'
• Create a 5' radius light.
• Extend/Decrease the radius of a light source by 5'.
• Animate the remains of a single tiny creature(such as a songbird or mouse). The caster has to concentrate to keep  the creature animated. It's movements are jerky(it can't attack or fly) and slow(half the speed it had in life).

Of course, there are a ton of other options, and I may post more of them later.

FINALLY!

It's about bloody time Google started working again! I will have a new gaming post up asap.

Starting at Suck: Ideas for 1st level adventures

For "Good" parties:

- Ripped right from Diablo: A local humanoid warband has stolen the Innkeeper's sign and think it's some sort of magical totem. The players are offered a small reward(or their bar tab is expunged) for returning it.
- Where's Waldo: The local sage has gone missing. It's known that he's gone into a certain mountain pass to look for herbs, but that was 2 weeks ago. The heroes are tasked with finding him. The area is relatively safe except for the occasional rock slide and the somewhat carnivorous wildlife.
- Poisoning Pigeons in the Park: A serial killer is loose in the PCs home turf, and his preferred method of killing his victims is by lacing their drinks with slow acting debilitating poison before dismembering them as they attempt to go home for the night. The local brewing festival is only a few weeks away, and the party has reason to believe that he's going to turn the entire festival into a giant bloodbath.
- Heart of Stone: A local sculptor has mistakenly fallen in love with a medusa via her handiwork, thinking she's an incredibly talented artist in her own right. The PCs are tasked with either revealing the truth or helping the couple find true love. (Note: The true love option can provide an interesting twist for the Medusa encounter if you're playing Return to the Keep on the Borderlands!)


For "Evil" Parties:

- Kick a man when he's down: a rival of the group has recently been hauled off to prison. Now's your chance to loot his stuff! You'll have to dodge the city guard though, who consider all the cool toys to be "evidence" in their criminal case. Alternately, now that he's virtually defenseless in prison, killing him once and for all might not be a bad idea.
- Ripped from the Warriors:  You've been framed! You've been accused of killing a major underworld power in the region, and now there's a bounty on your head being paid for by people you normally associate with. If a group is smart, they will not hack and slash their way through this, but turn this into an opportunity to gain even more power and infamy in the criminal underground.

- Ripped from The Darkness: You've pissed off people you shouldn't have and now you need leverage to barter for your miserable lives. Lucky for you, your enemy's right hand man has been gathering just the kind of dirt you're after, and a little birdy told you where to look for it. Now you just have to fight a few hired mooks, and get past a few locked doors to get at that lovely chest of information and evidence.
- Free to Good Home: Every villain needs to protect his lair from do-gooders and fellow villains alike. The price for such protection is never cheap, but your sources may have finally come through for you, having managed to find out about a ghoul trapped in a slick sided stone pit. If the party can figure out how to transport the creature, get it home undetected, and perhaps even train the thing a bit, they'll have a valuable "watch dog" for their lair.

Sometimes TPKs are no fun

  At Saturday night's Midlands 2e Sandbox game, I managed to TPK the party with a trio of ghouls. The party consisted of A 2nd level mage, a 2nd level fighter, a 1st level fighter, and a hatchling copper dragon(using modified Council of Wyrms rules to allow one of the players who on average loses 1 character every session to play the dragon from an egg the party found). With many players being new to gaming, or returning from decades long hiatus, I've been trying not to be too tough on them.
  Anyway, the game started well enough, picking up from the time before where the party was attempting to rescue the mage's henchman by fixing a problem they may have caused for the locals. They easily found the ghouls, but when they moved to attack, the dice did not favor them. The Ghouls managed to murder the party in less than 5 rounds. So, less than 1/2 an hour into the session, we had a TPK.
   The group created new characters and tried again . . . for another TPK. It's a darn good thing that character creation doesn't take too much time. It soon became apparent that the players were becoming frustrated and they didn't want to admit defeat to "three lowly ghouls".
   That's when I, as DM, decided to give the players a break. I don't like doing it, but trying to create new characters for a whole party mid-session is no fun at all. It's always half-assed, and the players don't have enough time to really think about or get into the idea of the character. When you combine that with the players' desire to get vengeance for characters they actually loved, then it starts being a slog for everyone.
  Instead of all this, I decided to let the players use the characters they had started the session with, letting them use what the plan they had not considered until it was too late. The session was effectively reset, and though the encounter was dangerous, the party prevailed. We called it a night after that, and I warned the group that this was a once a campaign event. Next time, the deaths would stand for keeps.
  I'll admit, as a DM who prefers to let the corpses fall where they may(I'm not a killer DM, but given the low level nature of the campaign at the moment, I'm sure a few people might beg to differ), giving the players a "do over" makes me feel more than a little dirty, but all in all, I feel I made a good call.

Death Knight Kit

This was created in response to a post on Dragonsfoot.

Death Knight(Fighters Only)
  Becoming a death knight is first and foremost a punishment for crimes that place a powerful knight forever beyond the codes of honor he once held. The character is completely and utterly beyond any hope of redemption, having committed crimes so heinous that even the rest of the grave is denied the character.
Requirements: A Death Knight is ALWAYS of Evil Alignment. While the vast majority are of Chaotic Evil Alignment, a significant number are Neutral Evil. Because of their betrayal of their ideals, it's completely unheard of for their to be a Lawful Evil Death Knight, though that's not to say it could not occur. The character must also have a Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma score of at least 9. The original character must have also been Human, as the curse is one lain down by human gods.
Modifications: Death Knights use the Ranger/Paladin advancement table and are unable to specialize in weapons. If a character takes this kit after first level, he is reduced/raised to the minimum required XP for his current level according to his new XP table. A death knight gains no bonus hp for having a high constitution. Nor does he gain bonuses to attack rolls or AC from a high dexterity. Because of the nature of his undead state, he gains a +1 bonus to his Strength Score, to a maximum of 18/00.
Weapons and Armor: Death Knights are unusually restricted compared to other warriors. A Death Knight with Strength high enough to grant him bonuses to attack and damage only gets to apply these bonuses when using Long, Two Handed, or Short swords. Because of his magical nature, he also only benefits from the magical effects of magical swords. For Armor, a Death Knight is limited to the armor he was wearing when he was first turned. Regardless of said Armor's AC, his AC starts out as the AC of the Armor or AC 0(whichever is worse). Not even magic items may change this.
Equipment: See Weapons and Armor. Beyond this, a Death Knight may own any equipment he wishes.
Nonweapon Proficiencies: Bonus: Ancient History, Etiquette, or Heraldry. Recommended: Any General, Warrior, or Priest Proficiency.
Special Benefits: When a Death Knight is first created he becomes an undead creature. At this point, he's not much better than the standard corporeal undead save that he uses the warrior chart for Hit Dice/Points, and he has a 10% resistance to magic, with a 1% chance to cause the spell to reflect back upon the caster. Because of the nature of the curse, though a starting Death Knight can be turned, he is unable to be destroyed by turning. In addition, the character gains the following benefits as he levels:

• +10% Magic Resistance per level(to a max of 75%), 2% chance of spell reflection per level(to a max of 11%)
• +1(+10%) bonus to strength score at each level to a maximum of 18/00 Strength.
• At 4th level, the character begins to command undead as a 1st level evil priest. This ability increases as he levels.
• At 5th level, the character generates a constant fear effect in a 5' radius

  At 7th level, the Death Knight is able to either build or take over a keep of his very own in a manner similar to a fighter. Unlike that of a standard fighter, such a stronghold becomes a haven of corruption and decay, and very little is capable of surviving near such a monument to death. By gaining a Stronghold, the Death Knight gains access to the following abilities:

• 7th level: Immunity to turning.
• 8th level: Able to cast Detect Magic and Detect Invisibility at will. Able to cast Power Word, Blind, Dispel Magic, and Symbol of Fear once per day. All spells are at 10th level ability. These abilities show up not at level, but at each new or full moon(DM's choice) in which the Death Knight spends in his stronghold.
• 9th level: Able to cast Detect Magic, Detect Invisibility, and Wall of Ice at will. Able to Cast Dispel Magic twice per day. Able to cast Power word: Blind, Kill, OR Stun once per day. Able to cast Symbol of Fear OR Pain once per day. Able to cast a 20-die fireball once per day. These spells replace the 8th level spell abilities. All spells are cast at 20th level ability. They show up in the same manner as the 8th level ones. 
• 9th level: The Death Knight's Strength is now 18/00(if it wasn't already)

Additionally, a  death knight is not subject to the ravages of time. He suffers no ill effects from aging, but does gain the benefits. He also receives an additional +1 bonus to Intelligence for every 100 years of unlife(up to racial maximum).
Special Penalties: The big penalty to being a death knight is being a cursed form of the undead. Because of this, the starting death knight is Turnable by good/neutral priests, and controllable by evil ones until such time as the Death Knight gains some form of Stronghold. In addition to this, a Holy Word spell can unmake the creature entirely.This is the only way to permanently destroy a death knight.
Because of his undead state, there are two major combat flaws to being a Death Knight. The first is that the Death Knight is unable to heal naturally, and must rely on special spells or items to heal himself. The second is that, even if the death at -10 hp rule is used, being undead, the Death Knight "dies" at 0 hp. Unlike the standard undead however, the death knight doesn't stay dead forever, but will rise again in an age so distant it might as well be dead forever.
Any Death Knight with spellcasting ability must enter an inactive state(not really sleep, but it's a period where he suffers the same effects of sleep) for a period of no less than 8 hours in order to regain his spell like abilities.
In addition to those penalties already listed, each and every death knight is a unique being who came by his status via a curse. The DM should tailor the curse to each individual death knight. Some examples of additional curse effects include:

• Being tormented nightly by the souls of those who died as a result of the Death Knight's action that caused him to become a death knight in the first place.
• Being forced to break free from a prison of brambles/ice each time the character "awakens"
• The character shifts every night of the full/new moon into the ethereal plane where he must fight for his own survival against a horde of ravenous undead that he is unable to control.

Death Knights who Fall after 1st level: A character who becomes a Death Knight after first level starts off with his normal abilities for his level as a standard warrior, and the abilities of a 1st level Death Knight. For each month that passes(on the night of the Full/new moon perhaps), he gains an additional level of abilities up to his current level. In the case of Fallen Paladins/Rangers, convert the character to a fighter first(standard fall from his original class) and THEN adjust as appropriate for the Death Knight Kit.

Life in Midlands, Part 2: Winter

Fog Month(28 days, 4 weeks, Similar to November, Full Moon on the 7th)
In cold years the first snows will start during this month. The colors of fall turn into the bleak grayness of winter. At this point most farmers are busy tending to their livestock, fattening them up in preparation for next month's slaughter.
  Ankhegs and Wyverns wrap up breeding season, while creatures that do hibernate begin to do so(Ankhegs, Many giant animals of the reptilian and amphibian variety). Goblinoids are finished raiding by the 7th, as the remaining tribe members focus on filling winter stores. Ogre, Troll, Lizard man, Minotaur, and most giant raids that were common during the warmer months begin to taper off as these races begin to gather in their winter grounds.

Holy Month(28 days, 4 weeks, Similar to December, Full moon on the 7th)
  By this point, livestock begins having some trouble finding enough food, so those involved with them slaughter many during this period. The colder temperatures. Salt is a very expensive commodity at this time of year as pickling and salting becomes a major industry in agrarian communities(which is basically everyone in the midlands). For the religious, this is also a time to leave offerings for the the Divinates(the Imperial religions' gods)
  Since prey is becoming scarce, Goblinoids may raid, but like the Ogres and Trolls, they too become less active during this time. What little the tribes do often involves expanding the lairs, and do not bother to send scouts outside the lair(many prefer to seal the entrances to prevent others from entering during this time).
   There are of course, a few races that become more aggressive during this time of the year. Wolf attacks tend to become more common during this time(the wolves are usually after the remaining livestock which they see as easier prey). Gnolls also become more active. Without the smaller goblinoids to raid, and with the larger races being a bit sluggish, the Gnolls' natural aggression and hunger forces them to clash with human settlements they'd normally ignore due to strong defenses.

God Festival(7 days, 1 week, Solstice/Yule/New Years/Candlemas/Einherjer, Full Moon on the 7th)
   For those who are a part of the Imperial church, this is seen as the most important festival week. It's a time to say farewell to those who died over the course of the preceding year. Candles are lit in the homes of everyone who has lost friends or family, and a small cup of alcohol is left on each mantle for each of the departed. Church services are held each day until the last, and on the day of the 7th, there's a huge party to say farewell to previous year and welcome in the new.

Ice Month(28 days, 4 weeks, Similar to January, Full Moon on the 28th)
   This is the time of year when tools and rope are made and repaired for the coming year. It's generally too cold to do much out of doors, and most people prefer not to leave their hearths. Gnolls are still a problem, as are some of the less prepared goblinoid tribes.In addition to those humanoids, settlements that were unable to stockpile enough food may turn to raiding other settlements to supplement their stores. One is generally advised not to be a traveler during this month.
   This is the month when winter is in its full power, and during the coldest winters monsters native to colder climes become an issue(Frost Giant raiders, young White Dragons, winter wolves, etc) as they sometimes stray south from the Northlands, or come down from their hidden fortresses on the highest peaks.